Sailboat construction



Jan. 23, 1968 c. w. LAPWORTH 3,364,509

SAILBOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

C'HHELES WILL/AM LHPWOETH 4M.,/Zzzm, M

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TIE-E- Arrow/6 5 Jan. 23, 1968 c. w. LAPWORTH 3,364,509

SAILBOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-$heet 2 IN VE N TOR04 491.55 W/L L IBM UQPWOE TH ala/1541i gm, gm

0252a a m United States Patent 3,364,569 SAILBOAT CQNSTRUCTION flharlesWilliam Lapworth, 565 th St, Newport Beach, Calif. 92660 Filed Dec. 22,1965, Ser. No. 515,604 7 Claims. (Cl. 9--6) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Asailboat construction having a cockpit, the rear portion of which isdefined by a transom. A downwardly tapered, generally trapezoidalopening is formed in the transom to receive a complementary hatch. Thelower end of the trapezoidal opening is formed with a horizontal motormount beam that receives an outboard motor when the sailboat is to bepowered. The outboard motor is removed and the hatch inserted within theopening when the sailboat is under sail.

The present invention relates generally to the art of sailboatconstruction and more particularly to a new and novel sailboatconstruction for use with an outboard motor.

Many smaller sailboats utilize an outboard motor as an auxiliary meansof propulsion. Generally, such outboard motors are mounted in a drivingposition only during such time as they are in use. When the boat is tobe sailed, it is desirable to stow the outboard motor in a positionwhere it does not contribute drag. Conventionally, the outboard motor iseither carried on a support affixed to the outside of the transom, oralternatively within a well formed in or adjacent to the rear portion ofthe cockpit. With either arrangement considerable difiiculty isexperienced in attaching the outboard motor to its supporting beam andin dismounting the outboard motor from such beam. This is particularlytrue under rough sea conditions. Additionally, the conventional outboardmotor well is a source of drag.

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a sailboatconstruction for use with an outboard motor which permits such outboardmotor to be readily mounted in driving position and to be dismountedfrom such driving position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sailboatconstruction of the *afore-described nature which is extremelyeconomical to manufacture.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sailboatconstruction of theafore-described nature which does not add any drag tothe sailboat and does not detract from the appearance of the sailboat.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sailboatconstruction of the aforedescribed nature which permits the outboardmotor to be mounted and to be dismounted in a minimum period of time andwith a minimum expenditure of effort even with the sailboat under wayunder rough water conditions.

A more particular object of the present invention is to provide asailboat construction -for use with an outboard motor that includes adownwardly extending opening formed in the sailboat transom with ahorizontal motor mount beam extending across the lower portion of theopening. The construction further includes a hatch for covering theopening and means interposed between the sides of the opening and thehatch for supporting the hatch within the opening while the sailboat isunder sail. The hatch may be readily lifted from the opening to exposethe motor mount beam when the sailboat is to be driven by the outboardmotor.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following de- 3,354,599 Patented darn. 23, 1968ICC tailed description, when taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a broken three-quarter rear perspective view showing therear portion of a sailboat construction embodying the present invention,such sailboat being provided with a transom hatch that is shown fixed inposition within an opening formed in the transom whereby the sailboatmay be driven under sail;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the transom hatchremoved and an outboard motor supported within the transom opening inposition to drive said sailboat;

FIGURE 3 is a broken top-front perspective view in enlarged scaleshowing details of construction of the transom opening;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken in enlarged scale along line4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a broken plan view of said transom opening with the hatchremoved therefrom;

FIGURE 6 is a broken horizontal sectional view taken in enlarged scaleon line 66 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of said hatch;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical sectional view taken in enlarged scale on line3-8 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 9 is a broken top-front perspective view showing part of thehatch cut-away in the interest of clarity.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGURE 1 thereof, there isshown the rear portion of a sai boat B provided with a cockpit It), therear portion of such cockpit being defined by a transom T. The transom Tis formed with a downwardly tapered, generally trapezoidal opening 12.The opening 12 is shown closed by means of a hatch, generally designated14, of downwardly tapered generally trapezoidal shape complementary tothe configuration of the opening. It should be understood that with thehatch 14 mounted within and thereby closing the opening 12 the sailboatB is adapted to be driven under sail.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, when the hatch 14 is removed from the transomopening 12 a conventional outboard motor M may be installed within theopening 12 so as to drive the boat 13.

More particularly and with reference to the other figures of thedrawing, the hull of sailboat B is of conventional molded Fiberglasconstruction utilizing a double Fiberglas skin 16. The opening 12 mayconveniently be cut in the transom T after the latter has been molded oralternatively such opening may be molded into the transom. The sides ofthe opening 12 receive a pair of generally vertically downwardly andinwardly extending frame boards 17 and 19 over which are secured trimboards 18 and 20, respectively, such pairs of boards being suitablybonded to the Fiberglas skin 16 and to one another. The upper and lowerportions of the trim boards 18 and 20, respectively, are provided with apair of upper and lower pads 22, 24 and 26, 28. A horizontal motor mountbeam 30 is rigidly atfixed within the lower portion of the opening 12.It should be observed that the Fiberglas skin 16 does not cover theupper front portion of beam 30, as indicated at 31 in FIGURE 4. Also, asindicated at 3111 in this figure, the skin 16 does not cover theuppermost rear portion of beam 3! The hatch 14 is preferably formed of aFiberglas skin having integral front and top elements 32 and 34 and arear element 36, which, as shown particularly in FIG- URES 6, 8 and 9,is joined along its upper edge to the rear of top element 34. The lowerend of the hatch 14 is open and a plurality of horizontal wooden spacers40 are secured between front and rear elements 32 and 36 as shown inFIGURE 8. The sides of the Fiberglas elements 32, 34 and 36 are closedby a pair of side boards 42 and 44 bonded or otherwise secured thereto.It will be noted that the side boards 42, 44 are recessed relative tothe side edges of the skin elements 32, 34 and 36. Also, as shownparticularly in FIGURES 7 and 8, the front skin element 32 extendsdownwardly farther than rear skin element 36.

A lifting handle 46 may be secured to the center of the front Fiberglaselement 32. Also, a locking hasp assembly 48 may be interposed betweenone side of the upper skin element 34 and the top of the transom T, asindicated particularly in FIGURE 1.

In the use of the aforedescribed construction, the hatch 14 is loweredinto the transom opening 12 when the sailboat B is to be driven undersail. With the hatch 14- in place within the transom opening 12 thelower portion of the front Fiberglas skin element 32 of the hatch willbe disposed over the front portion of the motor mount beam 30 above thefront Fiberglas skin element 16a of the transom T. Similarly, the lowerportion of the rear Fiberglas skin element 36 of the hatch 14 willextend downwardly a short distance over the rear surface of the motormount beam 30 to rest upon the upper edge of the rear Fiberglas skinelement 16b of the transom T, as shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. As indicatedparticularly in FIGURE 6, the side extremities of the front Fiberglasskin element 32 of the hatch 14 will extend across the front of the pads22, 24 and 26, 2? of trim boards 13 and 2t). Similarly, the sideextremities of the rear Fiberglas skin element 36 will extend over therear surfaces of these pads. In this manner, the hatch 14 will bepositively locked in place within the transom opening 12, the weight ofthe hatch maintaining it against upward movement. Preferably, a snap 50or the like will be positioned within the hasp assembly 4-8 topositively lock the hatch against inadvertent upward movement, asindicated in FIGURE 9.

It will be observed that the upper and lower pads 22, 24 and 26, 28 ofthe trim boards 13 and 20 abut the outer surfaces of the hatch sideboards 42 and 44 so as to maintain the hatch 14 centered relative to thetransom opening 12 while avoiding direct contact between the hatch sideboards 42 and 44 and the trim boards 18 and 20. This arrangementeliminates the necessity of extremely accurate fitting of the hatch 14to the transom opening 12 thereby effecting an important economy inconstruction. This arrangement also reduces the possibility that thehatch will stick within the transom opening, as could occur with directcontact between trim boards 18 and 2t) and side boards 4-2 and 44. Theoverlapping of the front and rear Fiberglas skin elements 32 and 36 ofthe hatch 14 with pads 22, 24 and 26, 23 and beam 30 affords adequatesealing of the transom opening 12.

When it is desired to remove the hatch 14- from the transom opening 12it is only necessary to lift the hatch 14 a comparatively short distanceupwardly within the transom opening. Thereafter, the hatch may be tiltedforwardly and lifted out of the transom opening 12. This arrangement ispossible because of the downwardly tapered trapezoidal configuration ofthe hatch and transom opening. It will be understood that if the sidesof the transom opening and the hatch were vertical it would be necessarythat the hatch be lifted the entire height of the transom opening inorder to effect removal of the hatch from the opening. Similarly, inorder to dispose the hatch within the transom opening it would benecessary to raise the lower edges of the hatch above the upper edges ofthe transom. The use of this trapezoidal shape is therefore extremelyimportant.

With the hatch 14 removed from the transom opening 12, such hatch may bestowed within the confines of the boat B in a convenient location. Theoutboard motor M is then readily engageable with the motor mount beam 30so as to permit the boat B to be driven by the outboard motor M. Thefact that the cockpit is open up to the front surface of the transom Tgreatly facilitates mounting and dismounting of the outboard motor M.

It will be readily apparent that the provision of the hatch 14 and themotor mounting arrangement aforedescribed will not produce any drag asthe boat B is driven under sail. Additionally, the aforedescribedarrangement for mounting an outboard motor does not detract in any wayfrom the appearance of the sailboat.

Various modifications and changes may be made with respect to theforegoing detailed description, without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1.. A sailboat construction for use with an outboard motor thatincludes:

a cockpit;

a transom defining the rear of said cockpit and formed with a downwardlyextending opening, the sides of said opening being defined by a pair oftrim boards;

a horizontal motor mount beam extending across the lower portion of saidopening;

a hatch for covering said opening, said hatch being parallel with saidtransom when disposed within said opening;

and means interposed between said trim boards and said hatch forsupporting said hatch within said opening while said sailboat is undersail, said hatch being lifted from said opening to expose said motormount beam when said sailboat is driven by said motor.

2. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 1 wherein said transomopening and said hatch are of comple mentary downwardly taperedgenerally trapezoidal configuration.

3. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 2 wherein the sides ofsaid transom opening are provided with vertically spaced pads that abutthe sides of said hatch to maintain said hatch centered relative to saidopening.

4. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 2 Wherein releasablelock means are interposed between said hatch and said transom to preventinadvertent upward movement of said hatch relative to said transomopening.

5. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 3 wherein the sides ofsaid hatch are recessed to receive said pads and the lower portion ofsaid hatch is recessed to receive said motor mount beam.

6. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 3 wherein releasablelock means are interposed between said hatch and said transom to preventinadvertent upward movement of said hatch relative to said transomopening.

7. A sailboat construction as set forth in claim 5 wherein releasablelock means are interposed between said hatch and said transom to preventinadvertent upward movement of said hatch relative to said transomopening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,818,273 8/1931 Pouliot 172,738,751 3/1956 Hogberg 115-17 2,926,362 3/1960 Collins et al. 9-1

OTHER REFERENCES Life, May 10, 1954, p. 81.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner.

MILTON BUCHLER, Examiner.

R. A. DORNON, Assistant Examiner.

